The Taste of Ashes
by xxxDITHxxx
Summary: SPOILERS! WARNING DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE RED THE ENTIRE BOOK! although i dont normaly listent o these things anyways so do what you want. full summary inside. (This story was made by xxxDITHxxx's friend, Not her. just give it a try and maybe you'll like it. rated T just to be safe.


**Friend: Hi! I know this is under xxxDITHxxx but this is written by another person. XxxDITHxxx is my friend and allowed me to put this on here via her. I am assuming that because she put this up here that she read it and corrected any mistakes that I may have made. If you guys review and like this story I will make my own Fanfiction account. So review please!**

**Dith you are literally the best person right now for putting up with me asking so many questions about this.**

**Summary: Rudy was sent away instead of his father. He comes home to nothing.**

**Disclaimer: I will never be the genius that Markus Zusak is therefore he owns everything and I own nothing.**

**Dith: Yep so you heard before that I didn't write this story and I didn't really read it because even if I did I wouldn't understand any of it because I didn't read "the book thief" so I hope it's good.**

The floor swayed beneath him as the train turned another corner. Each moment is taking him closer to Molching, to Himmel Street. Rudy does not know why he is here. The men in the suits came to his house one night to talk to his parents. The next day he was on a train. He disembarked the train at a school. This was a "special" school. Rudy was being taught how to be the perfect German boy; he was being trained to be the perfect Nazi.

The teachers were not happy when they received the news that Rudy Steiner would be going home. Yes, Rudy was a pain sometimes, but they knew he had potential to become a good soldier. They let him go anyway. The teachers knew why Rudy had to go home even if the boy did not. They knew that the young boy would be going home to nothing.

As Rudy's train rounded the last corner, he could barely contain his excitement. Although he would never admit it to anyone, he was homesick. Rudy missed his family, Tommy Müller, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. He missed his young, orphaned friend Liesel.

The carriage doors opened and the passengers streamed out, like fish in a stream. Rudy jumped out with a smile on his face so bright that it could light up the darkest room. He snatched up his luggage and scanned the crowd for his family. The Steiner family was nowhere to be seen. Watching the happy, whole families leave the platform talking and laughing made his heart plunge.

_Maybe they could not get here in time. Or maybe they did not know that I was coming home, _Rudy thought. He stared forlornly across the quickly emptying train station. His heart suddenly started to do flips at who he saw.

A young girl stood at the opposite end of the station. Her shoulders were slumped and her hair wisped around her face. She looked different, somehow, from the last time he saw her. He could not place how, but she was. These subtle differences did not affect Rudy; this clearly was Liesel Meminger.

Liesel walked over to Rudy. She looked weighed down by a problem. When she was close enough to Rudy for him to get a good look at her, he saw that Hans Hubermann's accordion hung around her neck. She had her arms crossed tightly around it. To Rudy, it looked as if Liesel was treating the instrument like a squirmy puppy, one that would run away if given the chance. Her eyes had no spark in them. She did not look very alive.

"Saumensch! Why are you here? Where is my family?" Rudy sounded light and cheery. He truly was glad to see her even if he did not act it. She shifted and swayed on her feet a little bit. Then, she spun around and began to walk away. When Liesel was ten feet away, she stopped and looked back.

"Come, Rudy," Liesel waved her hand forward in a beckoning motion. She spoke barely above a whisper. It was a miracle that Rudy was able to hear her at all. He hurried to catch up. Liesel waited patiently for him. This surprised Rudy; he had expected for her to continue on without him. On a normal occasion she would have. She may have even berated him for being slow. It was beginning to dawn on Rudy that this was no normal occasion.

She never uttered a word the entire way back to Himmel Street. Rudy really was beginning to worry at this point. Liesel should be happy to see him after all of these months away. _Maybe she has moved on from me and found another friend. Maybe she decided that when you get to a certain age boys and girls cannot be friends anymore. _Rudy rolled these thoughts around in his head before shaking them off. If she had found another friend or decided they should not be friends, she would most certainly not be here today.

_ No, _Rudy thought, _she looks sad. She looks sad and lost. To me it looks like a piece of her has gone missing and she cannot find it anymore. I do not believe that my return has done this to her. What has? _Rudy worried that something really bad had happened. That this problem was the reason for his return to Molching.

The pair were walking down Munich Street when Rudy gasped and stopped walking. There was no Himmel Street. Nor were there any streets around Himmel Street. The place where it should have been look like a war zone. Buildings were strewn all over the street. Chunks of concrete laid everyone. They looked like bodies as the rested against each other. Glass shards littered the area. They sparkled and twinkled in the sunlight, giving the whole scene a sort of majestic feel. There were a few people spiraling through the wreckage.

Liesel and Rudy shuffled closer to the devastation. Upon reaching the end of what used to be Himmel Street, Rudy saw what looked like a scar. A huge gash went down the center of the street and all of the wreckage seemed to have exploded from this one spot. The gouge was clean; no concrete had tumbled down into it. A large object may have hit the ground and skidded about a hundred yard before coming to a halt. The object had been either moved or decimated because it was not at the end of the scar.

Rudy's breathe shook and his mouth hung open in shock. "What…what happened? Liesel…" No matter how hard he tried his mouth would not form complete sentences. His breath hitched and he thought he would start sobbing uncontrollably. Liesel looked over at him. Her heart began to crumble at the thought of telling the story again, and to Rudy of all people.

Swallowing all of her fears and a trace of bile, Liesel began the tale. "I was in the basement of the house. I woke up in the middle of the night and went to the basement. For comfort, I guess, because I missed Max. The cuckoo-cuckoo siren went off too late. That is what they say now. Mama, Papa, Kurt, your mother, your father, your other siblings, everyone; they are all gone Rudy. I am so sorry. I am the only survivor. I am the only one from Himmel Street who lived." Tears streamed down Liesel's face in rivulets. "All's I have left is my papa's accordion. That is all. No books, no food, no money, nothing. I am sorry, Rudy. You probably do not have anything either. Liesel hung her head. Her fingers unhinged themselves from the accordion. They wiped her eyes and then went back to hugging the case. That is how Rudy was coming to view her hold on it.

Rudy had never cried so hard in his life. His nose had a steady stream pouring out of it. Horrible noises emitted from the back of his throat. He did not care. He did not care about much of anything. He had just learned that he had lost his entire family, everyone he had ever known and loved… Almost everyone.

Rudy had never been through terribly trying times before now. Liesel had. She had lost her mother, her brother, Max, Hans to a war and Rudy for a brief period. She knew how to cope, at least to a certain extent. He had no idea how to handle the onslaught of emotions that he felt. He wanted to scream, throw things, hit people, and curl up in a ball all at the same time.

"Where are you staying, Liesel?" Rudy asked after he composed himself. She looked up at him with sad, brown eyes. He felt his heart jump up into his throat. His stomach twisted into a billion knots. His forehead crumpled with worry and the skin wrinkled. "You are living somewhere, aren't you Liesel?"

"Yes, yes of course I am. I am staying at Schiller Strausse, With the mayor and his wife. But, Rudy, I do not really stay there. During the day I wander around Molching. Trying to look for a job or a real home, or an escape. I only go back to sleep at night." Liesel looked ashamed when she said this. Her head hung so low that her bony chin touched her chest. "I am sure that they will let you stay there." She looked at him with a look that was both reassuring and worried.

Rudy bristled in response. "I do not need any help, From anyone." Liesel wanted to butt in and point out that they were fourteen. They obviously needed some sort of help. But she decided to let him finish. "I'll . . . I'll . . . I will work in the tailor's shop. I will make tons of money. I will not take anything from anyone. I will be the youngest and most successful tailor in history!" Rudy's chest heaved after his spiel was complete. She let his imagination run away. He was allowed to do that right now. They both needed something bright to look forward to.

Liesel stared at him while he cooled down. Then she spoke. To Rudy's utter amazement she said, "Then I will have to go with you." She smiled and a smirk crossed her face. "You obviously won't be able to handle it yourself. Saukerl." Both friends smiled at each other.

Rudy was suddenly overtaken with a very strong feeling. He jumped forward and grabbed Liesel's shoulders. Their lips crushed together fiercely. Rudy could taste many emotions on her lips. He felt her pain, her sadness, her hopelessness. He never believed it when other people told him that there could be a story within a kiss. He knew what they meant now. Her lips were cracked and her breathe washed over his face. He could taste ashes on her lips. Liesel pulled back suddenly. She stared at him. The look on her face was not mad, though. She smiled at him weakly.

Her grin grew stronger with each second that passed. Rudy had to smile back at her. He was glad that she had his back. No, Rudy Steiner had not lost everyone. He still had the girl with the yellow hair and the brown eyes. He still had Liesel Meminger, the book thief.


End file.
